Applying geoscience to Australia's most important challenges

Comparison of earthquake source spectra and attenuation in eastern North America and southeastern Australia

Abstract

The paucity of ground-motion data in Stable Continental Regions (SCRs) remains a key
limitation when developing relations that seek to predict effects of strong ground-shaking
from large damaging earthquakes. It is desirable to combine data from more than one SCR
in order to increase database size, but this raises questions as to whether the source and
attenuation properties of the SCRs are equivalent. We merge recently - compiled spectralamplitude
databases from small-to-moderate events (moment magnitudes 2.0< - 5.0<) in
both southeastern Australia and eastern North America in order to compare the key
characteristics of ground motion in these two regions. Both are SCRs, but are widely
separated, spatially and in tectonic history.